Walking Christmas 2013 (Book 1)

WALKING CHRISTMAS 2013 (BOOK 1)

INTRODUCTION

In mid December 2013, Robin Webb from my church, asked if I could update our church website. This was a challenge to me but I gave it a go tryng to make a football based one look like a church one. One section I set up was to include about churches visited which gave me an idea whilst I was at church on Sunday 22nd December, could I visit a few churches over Christmas and take photos of them. I began my story on that day when I went to both in Shrub End and included the one at Brightlingsea as I saw it twice as I went past it on the bus and it was too far to walk out to see it. I did visit one in the town popping my head in the door. My story then continued on Christmas Day as I went past the Catholic church at the end of my road. My earnest quest for fame continued on Boxing Day. At this time I would like to give my thanks to the various websites that I have taken information and photos from, for personal use, and not for any monetary gains. The books trace my daily journeys and the order that I saw the various religious buildings.

SUNDAY 22nd DECEMBER 2013

St Cedd’s Church, Iceni Way, Shrub End, Colchester

The dual purpose church was built in 1955 and at a later date it was planned to do a church rebuild, but this never took place. There were very detailed drawings made of a major working around about the time when CCCP was set up, but these were well scaled down.

However many years before this a house was built in the area of Eldred Avenue/Iceni Way for the curate to live in, but in recent years this has now been rented out. Richard Cooper recalled that to the left of the door at St Cedd’s Church,

2 as you enter the building from the car park, that the brickwork was left in a way, as that was where the building was to be extended around across the grass for the church to be built on, but that never actually happened.

Now looking more to the modern times, one of the continuing problems around the roads in Colchester are the amount of potholes and the drive into St Cedd’s is the same, but thanks was given in the church magazine in late 2012 to Dave, John, Terry, Robin and Adrian who filled in the potholes. Also cleared away were the soak away drains.

Inside the buildings there are various pictures and other wall hangings, one features “The Light of the World” this was donated by Win Johnson in memory of her husband and a “Last Supper” in the Committee Room/Chapel which was given by the Youth Group many years ago, after being bought by Colin King and his father Don.

We have already heard that St Cedd’s was built in 1955, and Barbara Stephens believed that the nearby Roman Catholic Church of St John’s was built around about the same time and we have shared numerous Good Friday Stations of the Cross services with them, either in their church or at St Cedd’s and in recent years at both. This she felt began in the mid 1970’s whilst the curate, the Reverend Chris Boulton was here who was part of the instigator.

Personal view This is the church that I have spent most of my life attending until the recent years, it is place I did sidesman’s duties, bible reading, intercessional prayer, but since I now attend services in the main at All Saints at 8am service, I just visit to do my printing work on our church magazine and my other groups. On this December day, I was completing the church magazine.

All Saints’ Church, Shrub End Road, Colchester

The church was designed in the decorate style by D R French, and the red brick church has a tower with a slated spire. It is situated on the very busy road junction, with the staggered crossroads, where heading from town, Shrub End Road crosses Gosbecks Road off to the left, and Straight Road to the right, with the Shrub End Social Centre opposite on one side and the Leather Bottle public house on the other side. From what I have heard in the past, the original All Saints was situated in the grounds of the Colchester Zoo and this was backed up by an article on the Zoo’s website. It said that the ruins of All Saints (the former parish church of Great Stanway) stand in the grounds of the Colchester Zoo. An excavation was made by an Archaeological Solutions in January 2005 that revealed that fourteen strips, CAT excavated thirty-four medieval inhumation graves on the site of the proposed new orang-utan enclosure.

The graves are probably late medieval, and the absence of coffins indicates a low status. Other features include two ditches, which may sometime in the past have been graveyard boundary ditches. The human remains are to be reburied on site.

From information from the Colchester Business Forum it tells us about our current All Saints Church – it was by George Russell French 1844-45 to serve a new parish for the growing population of Stanway and Lexden. It was of hard red brick with Caen stone dressings. The nave, chancel and lower tower with splay-foot spire over the North porch. In the North end there was organ chamber which was added in 1883 and to the south end, a choir vestry in 1958 with the nave extended in the West in 1982. It had a plain exterior enlivened only by the carved label stops along the North side; those at the North West end are portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Its fittings included reredos of marble and gold mosaic by John Hardman and Co. There are memorials to Edward Coope Fulcher who died in 1880, a stained glass window on the South side of the nave by Cox & Sons, 1878 a memorial to John Smith Dolby the first incumbent and another by James Powell & Sons memorial to Sunday School teacher, Edith M M Scarman who died in 1930. There was a wall monument to Thomas Joseph Turner of Little Olivers in Stanway who died in 1866 by L J Watts of Colchester. It was a significant church by a well-known architect who also had Essex connections, with addresses in Wanstead and Leytonstone.

In the local history report, it included a piece of the house building within Colchester and it mentioned this area - Although the majority of houses built in Colchester in the early 20th century were private the council did build some houses in the 1920s. In the 1950s the council built estates at Shrub End and Monkwick. In the 1950s the army built the Montgomery estate. In the 1960s the council built Greenstead estate. Private houses were built on the St Johns estate in the 1960s. In the 1980s private houses were built at High Woods, North of the town.

Over the years there have been several memorable events in the church, there was in the Flower Festival in 2004, but an earlier one had been held in 1976. A year later a resident of the area, Len Woodrow, became the town mayor, and a dedication service was held for him there. Also that year the choir were pictured outside the church door, where a figure head of the Queen and Prince Philip were fixed either side of the door in honour of their Silver Jubilee.

St James, Victoria Place, Brightlingsea

The church is at the heart of the main town street and linked in with All Saints too.

All Saints, Brightlingsea

All Saints Church stands on a hill top on the approach road into Brightlingsea approximately one and a half miles from the town centre. It was built around 1250 comprising of the present Chancel, two thirds of the Nave with two small Chapels. This construction incorporated part of an earlier building and a great deal of Roman brick. In the wall to the west of the south door there is a round headed recess incorporating roman brickwork, which probably dates from the early Norman period. In the late 15th century the Tower, one of the finest in East Anglia, was built to the west of the Church. It is 97ft. high and was built in three stages containing a minstrels gallery at the lower level, the “Deputy's” and ringing room holding the ringing frame of the peal of tubular bells, and highest of all the bell chamber.

This is home to the original but much altered bell cage which houses the two remaining bells. The roof of the tower, which is accessible once or twice a year, provides panoramic views over a vast area. Once the newly constructed tower had settled the Nave was extended by two bays to meet it. The Baptistery, located under the Tower, contains a fine Tudor font with traces of the original colour and the large original West Door. Also in this area are two rare dummy board figures of Moses and Aaron.

The Vestry was built in 1518 and the North Chapel enlarged by the Beriffe family circa 1520. The original Nave roof and Clerestory collapsed in 1814 and in spite of hard work and a national collection it could only be replaced by the present pitched roof. The church contains many items of interest particularly the unique frieze of memorial tiles to men lost at sea. The tiles bear witness to the various losses suffered by this seafaring community. While similar memorials can be found on the continent these tiles are a unique memorial in this country. The Lady Chapel and the north and centre aisles contain brasses of the Beriffe family.

Brightlingsea has a strong link with the “Cinque Ports” as it is a “Liberty” of the “Cinque Port of Sandwich” in Kent. The historical office of “Deputy of the Cinque Port Liberty of Brightlingsea is still alive today, and although having no civic powers and authority “The Deputy” plays an important role of the life of the town. The new Deputy is chosen annually at a ceremony held in the church on the first Monday in December, and brass plates at the west end of the church record the names of all the Past Deputies.

The Chancel holds a large, ornate marble memorial to Nicholas Magens who was an 18th. century Lord of the Manor, Underwriter and Merchant. His various activities are beautifully depicted in the memorial. The pews are provided with a colourful series of tapestry kneelers, representing the life and history of Brightlingsea. A visible reminder that this is the community’s church.

WEDNESDAY 25th DECEMBER 2013

St John the Baptist, Roman Catholic Church, Iceni Way, Colchester

The church is served from St Teresa of Lisieux, in Clairmont Road, Lexden and is their sister church, holding services normally on a Saturday evening only. It has a looped in system for hearing aids, as is found opposite the Shrub End Square shops. The current priest is the Reverend Thomas Lavin.

Personal views It is a church that I have visited several times, having been there on Good Friday Mornings, as we have shared joint services with them.

THURSDAY 26th DECEMBER 2013

Colchester New Church, Maldon Road, Colchester

Colchester New Church at 175 Maldon Road was built in 1924. In 1967 the church building was expanded. The sanctuary was extended two metres in length, a new school room, and a new entrance porch were added. The designer of the new additions was architect Geoff P. Dawson.

Personal view: It was the New Church I believe where the minister came across from USA and soon after arriving there was flood damage in church. There was verified on their Facebook page which said it was a frozen pipe that saw water damage to their sanctuary.

Christchurch Parish, Ireton Road, Colchester

Christchurch URC, Ireton Road, Colchester

A church is usually considered to be a group of Christians meeting together and drawn from a local community. In the early church, these meetings often took place in houses. Our Christian group at Christchurch has a beautiful modern church building in which we can gather for larger meetings and a number of local homes that can be used for house groups and prayer meetings. In 1978 the Anglican parish church of St Mary-at-the-Walls got together with the URC congregation in Colchester and built the new Christ Church building in Ireton Road. They now share the management and the use if this building with their URC friends, who meet for worship after their service each week.

Personal views: I attended there for funerals of a farming client after going to one there previously for the secretary of an agricultural club.

Maldon Road Chapel, Colchester

The chapel is probably by Gilbert, Brown & Roberts for the New Church Society

Police Station, Southway/Butt Road, Colchester

Excavations in the 1980s for a new police station near the Maldon Road roundabout unearthed 371 Roman graves and a long narrow building. The building was built between AD 320 and 340. Oriented east to west, an apse was added to the east end in a later phase. The building was divided by a wooden screen and two rows of posts ran down the eastern half forming aisles. The building has been interpreted on strong circumstantial evidence as an early Christian church. If this is correct, it is probably the earliest known Christian church in Britain. The remains have been preserved and are visible from the public footpath.

Salvation Army, Butt Road, Colchester

The Essex area has 37 churches and the Salvation Army is a worldwide Christian church and registered charity. They are always extending a helping hand to those who are homeless, friendless and in need. We passionately believe that no one is beyond hope, however great their problems. That disadvantaged people are given respect and access to the practical, social and spiritual support they need to realise their God-given potential and recover their personal dignity.

Personal view: I have not been inside this building but members from there have come to the St Raphael Club to sing and play for us.

Christian Scientist, Trinity Street, Colchester

Christian Science Sunday church services are for everyone! The hymns, prayer and a Lesson-Sermon read from the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures provide spiritual inspiration and a healing atmosphere.

Personal view: No real thoughts about this church, but I do think one of my school friend went there, which suggests that it has been there for over 40 years.

Holy Trinity, Trinity Street, Colchester

Holy Trinity is the oldest surviving church building in Colchester. It is on Trinity Street in the town centre. Parts of the church tower are Anglo-Saxon, believed to date from about 1020. The Saxon doorway in the west side of the tower has a triangular head: a feature common in Anglo-Saxon windows but unusual in a doorway. An earlier church building may have existed on the site. The churchyard includes the graves of William Gilbert, discoverer of electromagnetism and physician to Elizabeth I, and the composer John Wilbye. The Church is now a café and youth venue for arts and music.

Personal view: This was not used for a very long time, but it was a museum for a while but then probably in 2011 I went in there for a coffee as it was been used as a fund raising café.

St Runwalds, West Stockwell Street, Colchester

St Runwald's church is one of only three churches were ever dedicated to the Saint in Britain. The church in Colchester formerly stood as part of "middle row" in the High Street. It was demolished, along with other buildings in the row, in the 1860s. The church graveyard is in West Stockwell Street, behind Colchester Town Hall.

Personal view: St Runwalds from knowledge was reported to have in history been in the middle of the High Street but long since gone. There were still a few gravestones in West Stockwell Street.

Castle Methodist, Maidenburgh Street, Colchester

It is situated in Maidenburgh Street next to the Colchester Castle, this 20th century building was opened in 1970 on the site of the “great round meeting house, where John Wesley preached in the 18th century.

A wooden pulpit that he used is preserved in the new church. Castle Methodist is located off the High Street in Colchester, beside the ancient castle and on the edge of the Dutch Quarter of the town. Morning services are always recorded with CDs and tapes are sent to those, not necessarily of the Castle congregation, who are unable to attend worship due to illness or infirmity.

Personal views: I believe this church replaced the old church which is roughly where the BHS store is now in the town centre, as I can recall going there when I was very young, and attending a carol concert, and hearing all about the story of how the carol Silent Night began. I did also attend the new church when I went to the funeral of my former boss, Clifford Robins.

St Martin’s, West Stockwell Street, Colchester

St Martin's is a 12th-century church that survives in its original Norman form. The church is on West Stockwell Street in the old Dutch Quarter. Its tower was damaged in the English Civil War and was never repaired. Today the church building is in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust and is used as a community venue. The key is available from the Colchester Borough Council museum service.

Personal view: St Martin’s was another redundant church but it was open and I was able to buy a guide book from it.

Greek Orthodox of St Helen’s Chapel, Maidenburgh Street, Colchester

Dedicated to Saint Helena, the 14th century Chronicle of Colchester states that the chapel was founded by the saint herself and refounded by Eudo Dapifer in 1076. Most of the present building dates from the 12th and 13th centuries, incorporating Roman brick. Excavations in 1981 and 1984 in Maidenburgh Street, have shown that the Roman stone and brickwork under the north and east walls were part of a theatre. In the 14th century, chantries were established in the chapel, but it was closed in 1539 after the Dissolution of St John's Abbey and it went into secular use. It became a house, a school, a library, a Quaker meeting-house and a warehouse. In the 1880s, the Round family who owned the castle, had the chapel restored by William Butterfield. After use as a clergy meeting-room and a parish hall, it was used by the Castle Museum as a store. Since 2000, it has again been used as a place of worship by the Orthodox Parish of St Helen.

Personal view: Having missed it as I walked past it on my way done the road, it was then spotted on my way back up again.

Congregational Chapel, St Helen’s Lane, off East Stockwell Street, Colchester

This red-brick chapel in East Stockwell Street was built in 1816–17. It was refronted in 1834 with a pediment and Tuscan columns. It was also improved 1824 and 1826 when new front erected. Red brick with central pediment on the front recessed portico. Built for the Reverend Joseph Herrick after his expulsion from the Old Meeting House in St Helen's Lane by the Unitarian part of the congregation.

The origins of Stockwell Congregational Chapel in Colchester can be traced to two Church of England clergymen ejected in 1662, the Revd. Owen Stockton of St. James’s parish and town lecturer and the Revd. Edmund Warren from St. Peter’s. They initially formed a congregation which met in Colchester Castle and after Warren’s death, a meeting house for Independent Protestant Dissenters was built in c.1691 in St. Helen’s Lane. The meeting house was mainly used by Independents and Presbyterians, but there appears to have been an element of ‘Socinianism’ or Unitarianism among the congregation and some of the ministers. In 1796 the Revd. Isaac Taylor, father of the poets Ann and Jane Taylor, was appointed pastor and served for 14 years, before leaving for Ongar in 1810. He and his successor who served less than a year both found opposition form the Unitarian element in the congregation. In 1813 the Revd. Joseph Herrick was appointed.

Joseph Herrick was to remain at the chapel until his death in 1865. His first year as minister was spent in what he described in his church history as ‘war and confusion’ with the remaining Socinians among the majority of the Trustees and some of the members. This came to a head when the Trustees pulled down the roof of the chapel, Herrick described ‘not a tile, or a bit of lath, or ceiling but what was dismantled and lay in the pews and Galleries of the place’. Herrick bought a site opposite, the foundation was laid in August 1816 and the new chapel opened on 13 November 1816. Subsequently the old site was known as the Old Meeting House. The new chapel was enlarged in 1824 and again in 1836 with a new front on East Stockwell Street, the chapel being known as Stockwell Chapel after this date.

Missions were opened in Lexden in 1821 and in Barrack Street in 1824. In 1840 there was dissent between the Revd. Herrick and some of his deacons and trustees. A mortgage had been raised on the chapel, without his consent, to pay for the cost of the 1836 enlargement, and was possibly being used by Herrick’s opponents among the trustees and deacons, Herrick believed that there was a plot ‘to drive him away’. This culminated with the sheriff’s officers seizing the chapel on 19 February 1843 for a debt of £714. The Baptists offered their chapel when not in use, and the chapel hired the Bible Room in Lion Walk. Herrick launched a fundraising campaign to pay off the debt and on 28 March 1844 services resumed in the chapel.

Joseph Herrick died in 1865 and was succeeded by the Revd. Thomas Batty in 1866. During Batty’s ministry new schoolrooms were built in 1868 on part of the graveyard. In 1875 the front of the chapel was altered with new windows, and seating inside. Another mission was established at Mile End, where a chapel was built in 1880. In 1880 the old chapel in St. Helen’s Lane came into the possession of the trustees and in 1882 a Charity Commissioners’ Scheme ordered the sale of the site and the money was endowed with the annual income split between the minister, the Sunday School and the treasurer for the upkeep of the chapel. The Revd. Batty retired after 40 years as minister in 1906.

During the 1920s and 1930s the numbers in the congregation fell and it became difficult to find and retain ministers and to raise the necessary funds to pay them. After the Second World War it was decided by the Congregational Church that more churches were needed in some of the newer areas of the town and in 1946 the Revd. David McLean was appointed as joint pastor with the church in Shrub End. The original proposal had envisaged a gradual diminishing of the Stockwell Chapel with a view to building a new Stockwell Memorial Chapel in Shrub End. This plan was not carried out, but after 1951 the chapel had no minister, and by 1960 its membership had fallen to 20. It finally closed in 1966. The chapel was sold in 1979 and converted to offices.

St Nicholas, High Street, Colchester

Saint Nicholas' church formerly stood on the High Street. The original church was 12th century and the church was rebuilt in the 14th century, and restored again between the years 1875-76 to designs by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The church had the highest spire seen in Colchester. The Church of England had the church demolished in 1955 and sold off the site for a commercial redevelopment. The Colchester Co-operative Society built a department store ("St Nicholas House") on the site. After a sports shop had a spell there, the building is generally vacant.

Personal view: St Nicholas was gone before I was born and was from memory it was the original site of the Co-op Department Store. Later on it was JJB Sports then stands empty most of the year until about November-December when it becomes the Christmas Shop.

All Saints Church opposite Castle Park, now Museum, High Street, Colchester

Declared a redundant church in 1953, this church in High Street is now a Natural History Museum. Nikolaus Pevsner states that there is little of interest beyond the flint-built Decorated Gothic west tower, the rest having undergone much Victorian rebuilding.

Personal view: I remember going in there to the museum a long time ago, and several times wanted to return, but always found it closed. Then over the Christmas period in 2012, I had been to Stratford, East London, and on my return I looked around the town and seeing it open, made a visit to it.

St James the Great, East Hill, Colchester

St James the Great is a Church of England church on East Hill in Colchester. The oldest part of the church is Norman dating from the 12th century. The nave, tower, and two aisles were built between the 13th and 15th centuries. The chancel and the Chapels of Our Lady and Saint Peter and Saint Paul were added around 1500. The radical priest John Ball, a leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 preached at the church.

Nikolaus Pevsner in his Buildings of England series describes St James’ as being the best Perpendicular work in Colchester. Architectural evidence shows that the church was founded by the 12th century or earlier.

From 1328 or earlier until the Dissolution St Botolph’s priory was patron, presenting regularly except on two occasions in 1469 when Coggeshall abbey presented. The living was poor, but not the poorest Colchester living, and vacancies were usually filled. One of the Rectors in 1406 was accused of keeping a concubine and Edmund Coningsburgh, Rector for under a year in 1470, was employed by Edward IV as an envoy to the pope in 1471 and became archbishop of Armagh in 1477.

The living was vacant from 1554 or earlier until 1586. In 1575 as many as 11 people were fined for repeated absence from church. Robert Holmes, Rector 1586-92, was accused in 1585 of ‘slack administration’ of the communion, and in 1588 he described the wearing of the surplice as superstitious. In 1595 Thomas Farrar, Rector 1591-1610, was accused of serving two cures in the same day; in 1616 his successor Samuel Crick was non-resident and his curate unlicensed.

William Shelton, Rector 1670-99 was a staunch defender of the Church of England, and opposed papists, Quakers, and other dissenters. In 1723 there were two Sunday services and monthly communion. By 1738, services at St James’ had been reduced to one on most Sundays. John Milton, Rector 1743-67, held only one Sunday service in 1747 when he also served Lexden. By 1766 Milton, then also vicar of Fingringhoe, was in poor health and employed one curate to perform the Sunday service and another to say prayers on Wednesdays and Fridays; monthly communion was administered to 60-70 communicants.

In 1810 the resident Rector John Dakins provided an evening lecture as well as one full service on Sundays, and communion eight times a year for 50-60 communicants, a number little changed since 1778. By 1815, he increased the Sunday services at St James’s to two. In 1841 three quarters of the population of 1,439 were said to belong to the church, but on Census Sunday 1851, out of a population of 1,845, only 270 in the morning and 370 in the afternoon, including 70 Sunday school children on each occasion, attended church.

By 1902 there were four Sunday services and two each weekday at St. James’s, reflecting the Catholic Churchmanship of Fr CC Naters, Rector 1895-1918, who introduced incense, vestments, processions, lights, and holy pictures, into the church. When in 1914, without a faculty, he erected a rood loft and screen, and an altar in the south chapel which obscured the monument to the philanthropist Arthur Winsley, a case was brought against him in the consistory court.

Fr Naters was ordered to remove the rood loft and some of the candlesticks and pictures. When a further judgment compelled him to replace the altar with a small Jacobean table to reveal Winsley’s monument, he complied, but with solemn ceremonial and a defiant sermon against state interference in religion.

The Catholic tradition has been maintained by Fr Naters’s successors and today the church continues to be a focus for catholic faith and worship in Colchester. The church of St James, the largest in Colchester, stands in a commanding position just inside the former east gate at the top of East Hill. It is built of rubble with ashlar dressings, and comprises an aisled chancel with north-east vestry, aisled and clerestoried nave with north porch, and west tower.

The Roman brick north western quoins of an unaisled nave survive and the later medieval development suggests that in the 12th century the church may have been cruciform. The lower stages of the tower are late 12th or early 13th century, and the upper stage is 14th century. The presumed transepts were extended as aisles c. 1300 when the two eastern bays of the arcades were built. Money for a new aisle was being collected in 1403. The church underwent a major reconstruction in the late 15th century; new work was done on the chancel in 1464 and in 1490 money for the enlargement and enrichment of the church was raised by an entertainment in the street outside the church. The two western bays of the arcades were built and the arches of the eastern bays were reshaped to match them. The aisles were extended and the older parts improved.

The chancel and its chapels and vestry were built or rebuilt, as was the chancel arch and the matching arches between the chapels and the nave aisles. The tower was remodelled and given diagonal buttresses. The tower was said to be decayed in 1633. The church was in reasonably good order in 1835 except for the north wall, but by 1870, it was so dilapidated that the services were no longer being held there. Restoration work was carried out in 1871-2 under Fr SS Teulon. The north porch and tower arch were rebuilt, and all the roofs were renewed except for those of the chancel aisles.

A new organ was installed in the north chapel in 1890, and screens to designs by TG Jackson were erected in the south chapel in 1899-1900. In 1951 the 19th century choir stalls were removed from the chancel and the floor was lowered. In 1954 the north chapel was restored, and the existing organ removed and replaced by the organ from St Nicholas’ Church. The organ console was moved to the west end of the church in the 1970s.

Two brasses of the late 16th century to Alice and John Maynard survive. A large marble statue of Arthur Winsley was erected in 1738 at the east end of the Lady Chapel. It was moved to the west end of the north aisle in 1923 when the south chapel was restored. A painting, the Adoration of the Shepherds, presented by the painter George Carter in 1778 as an altar piece, hangs above the north door of the nave. A painting of the Last Supper by Sir William Archer of 1855 is located in the Sanctuary to the left of the High Altar.

Personal view: One of our previous curates at Shrub End became the vicar there and drew attention to himself when he did a sponsored roof sit.

St Botolphs Priory, Priory Street, Colchester

The Augustinian priory of St Botolph's, generally called "St Botolph's Priory", was also established in the 11th century. This adopted the Augustinian Order in around 1200 and became the mother church of the order in Britain. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the priory church of St Botolph's became the parish church. It was also used by the Corporation on civic occasions until the English Civil War. In 1650 the church was described as burnt and ruined after the Siege of Colchester, and it has been left in ruins. Until the construction of a new church in 1837, parishioners attended All Saints church instead, although burials continued in the churchyard.

Personal view: Often looked at are the priory ruins which are just behind St Botolph’s Church in Priory Street.

Colchester Islamic, Priory Street, Colchester

Personal view: The Islamic centre is found between the houses opposite the car parks at the St Botoloph’s Street end of Priory Street.

Colchester Spiritual, Fennings Close, Priory Street, Colchester

Personal view: In an alley off Priory Street in Fennings Close and down the slope is first the Spiritual then the Jewish Centres.

Colchester Jewish, Fennings Close, Priory Street, Colchester

(1939-43) "Several families evacuated to the Colchester area during the Second World War joined with local families and Jewish service personnel to hold services." (1943 & 1944) "Communal sederim held locally with service personnel from the Commonwealth and the United States." (1945-47) "Jewish National Servicemen held Friday evening services on Garrison premises." (1950s & 1960s) "Regular services begin and the Community forms - strengthened by several new families moving into the area." (1969) "The synagogue built on land purchased from the Spiritualist Church." "From this point the focal point provided by having their own synagogue premises, aided by the reinforcement of the Community by staff and students from Essex University, re-established the Community."

Sisters of Mercy Covent, Priory Street, Colchester

Personal view: This was not on my original list but further down the road was the nun’s convent, and was also a customer on my dad’s round at the Old Heath Laundry.

Cardinal Bourne Hall, Priory Street, Colchester 21

This is the Roman Catholic church hall and club room designed by Scoles & Raymond in 1911. It is a red brick gabled front with Neo-Norman doorway and window. This was extended in 1913 and form a group with the church of St James the Less and presbytery. The wall and gate on the south side.

Personal view: This was the building known to be attached to the catholic church.

St James the Less, Priory Street, Colchester

This Roman Catholic Church of St James the Less and St Helen in Priory Street was designed by JJ Scoles, built in 1837 and enlarged in 1909–10. It is a Norman revival building with an apsidal chancel.

Personal view: When I was younger still at school I travelled on the round with my father and the church caretaker had a dog called Paddy which I fed when they went back to Ireland I got the dog. He could be quite aggressive as he was a cross corgi terrier mix but sadly he died from illness

St Botolph’s, St Botolph’s Street, Colchester

The current church building was dedicated in 1837, It is built in the style of the old Norman building, with semicircular arches and Norman ornamentation and was designed by William Mason of Ipswich.

The Church was nearly destroyed by fire in the 1943 air raids. It had its own team of fire watchers which dealt with several incendiary bombs.

Personal view: This church has featured quite a lot in my life. My mum attended church there. It was also the place where mum and dad were married on 2nd January 1943 and also where I was confirmed on 10th June 1965. Later years saw myself meet up with mum and dad on 2nd January 1993, I think, for their 50th wedding anniversary, I tried to go inside with them, but the building was locked, so it had to be a photo taken outside, then it was off to BHS for a “large” breakfast. I also believe one of my former Grammar School teachers, Colin Nicholson, is the organist. His brother, Allan, use to be a client of mine, and ran the nursery in Priory Street, and the housing development now there, bears his name. Many a visit to his premises, saw me return home with flowers. In fact just prior to him retiring, I had been off work, and my parents took me there in the car, and the boot and the back of the car, were full of flowers and pot plants.

St Giles, St John’s Green, Colchester

Originally built on part of St John's Abbey cemetery around AD 1150, contains work from every century since. It was declared redundant in 1956 and then used as a St. John Ambulance depot until 1975 when it was converted into masonic centre.

Personal view: After speaking with my brother, it was in this hall that we attended the 21st birthday party for his wife, Tracey.

Abbey Gate, St John’s Green, Colchester

The Benedictine abbey of St John the Baptist, generally known as "St John's Abbey," founded in 1096, had a late 11th-century church until the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the execution of its abbot in 1539. Now all that remains is the gatehouse on St John's Green, which dates from the 15th century, and the small church with a wooden tower (St Leonard's) which was built for the layworkers on the site.

Personal view: Situated up on St John’s Green is the gate and is the entrance to the Officer’s Club which was badly damaged by fire in July 2010. My only memory of the club was watching Mary Pope, a work colleague play squash there.

Strict Baptist Church, Stanwell Street, Colchester

Formerly in Stanwell Street, demolished in 1971 to make way for Colchester's Inner Ring Road. The chapel was built in 1811 or 1812 for a new congregation, some of whom had seceded from the Baptists in Eld Lane. Colchester Elim Pentecostal Church used the chapel 1957–71.

Abbeyfield Community Church, Abbeygate Street, Colchester

Abbeyfield Community Church began in 1880 when 4 men met together to pray for their neighbourhood around Vineyard Street in Colchester. The room they met in, soon became too small, l and so a room was hired over the theatre Royal in Queens Street and the group that met there was known as “The Gospel Band.” Music being a significant focus. As this group grew it became apparent that a permanent meeting place was needed. Land was bought in Abbeygate Street and became the site for a mission hall. This building which we still occupy was opened in 1902 and officially registered as a place of worship in 1912. Eight years later a Sunday school was started and numbers grew to 50. Church life continued knowing particular times of God’s favour as well as times of little growth and discouragement.

In 1966 the step was taken to change the name of the church to Colchester Evangelical Church and to become affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. Other changes took place. The former superintendent became the Pastor followed by the purchase of a manse and building alterations including the putting in of a baptistry. In 1987 the first full time minister was appointed. The church is also affiliated to the Evangelical Alliance. Pastor Graham became the Minister in 1992 leaving to pastor Bethesda Baptist church in Ipswich from 1998 to February 2003 when he felt it was right to return to this church. In 2006 the name of the church was changed again, this time to Abbeyfield Community Church. God has given them a love for the Abbeyfield and the people that make up this growing community.

We believe this is where God wants us to live and serve him. With this in mind a new manse was purchased on the Churchill gate part of the Abbeyfield development and they are looking to see a Church and community building established there soon.

Personal view: In years gone by, I can remember the building being there as the Mission Hall as the area behind it where Iceland, Wilkinsons, QD Stores and a car park is now, was once Tesco’s and before that it was I believe it was the Eastern National Bus Station.

Eld Lane Baptist, Eld Lane, Colchester

In Eld Lane, built in 1834 on the site of Colchester's first purpose-built Baptist chapel of 1711. The first Baptist church in England was established by Thomas Helwys in 1612 in London. He died in Newgate Prison but the faith spread.

There were Baptists in Colchester by 1630. In the Civil War period views of what the Christian faith should be contended within existing churches. With the Restoration in 1660 the Church of England was supreme and those who had other views had to worship underground. The Glorious Revolution of 1689 gave toleration to Dissenters. It was then that Colchester Baptist Church was formed.

In 1690 the Church registered its meeting house in East Stockwell Street, just off the High Street, and its minister, John Hammond. In 1711 the hurch moved to Eld Lane on part of its present site and called John Rootsey as its minister. Rootsey built up the church and made the first contacts which led to Baptist churches in Ipswich.

In 1832 the site of their premises was increased fourfold and the present church was built on it in 1834. This was largely due to the benefactions of Benjamin Nice, a farmer living in Ardleigh. One of their members at that time, James Paxman asked that his name be removed from the roll due to 'improper conduct'. Thus his son, James Noah Paxman, was brought up in the Church of England. He went on to found the major engineering company that bore his name.

In January 1850 the young Charles Haddon Spurgeon came to a knowledge of Christ in a Sunday morning service in the Primitive Methodist Church in Artillery Street. That evening Spurgeon worshipped at Eld Lane and it is as a Baptist that Spurgeon became the foremost Christian influence in 19th century Britain.

In 1866 with the minister ill but unable to retire Eld Lane looked to Spurgeon, who had just founded the theological college that bears his name, for help. He offered Edward Spurrier as assistant minister and agreed to preach himself twice a year to cover the cost. Spurrier soon had the church in a healthy state. On one of his visits Spurgeon saw the need for a school hall. With a gift and a loan from him the Church was equal to the challenge. In recent years this hall has needed rebuilding but is essentially the hall Spurgeon built.

Spurrier stayed at Eld Lane over 40 years. In that time out-stations were built at Parsons Heath (Wycliffe) and Blackheath (Orchard). Both are now independent churches. One of their ministers in subsequent years, Warwick Bailey, served from 1944 to 1972. he was a Borough Councillor for nine years and was mayor of Colchester in 1949/50. Two further additions have been made to the premises. That in front of the school hall was named after Spurrier and opened in 1923. A wing on the other side was added in 1991. It houses Open Door, founded in 1986 as a welcome to all who want to come on four weekdays.

Personal view: This is another building which I have not been inside but I believe they do act as a soup kitchen for the waifs and strays.

Lion Walk URC, Lion Walk, Colchester

In 1648 Sir Charles Lucas, commander of forces loyal to Charles 1st in Colchester, surrendered his sword to Cromwell's army in an inn just off Head Street. At that time the tiny stream which was to become Lion Walk Church had already begun to flow, and some of its first members could well have been besieged with Sir Charles and watched as he was marched down High Street to be shot under the castle walls. For in the minutes of a church in Great Yarmouth dated 1642 is recorded "In the meantime John Ward, being called to Colchester, did there with others gather into church fellowship and there continued".

John Ward died in 1644 but the faithful few to whom he ministered worshipped in private houses, with difficulty and often persecuted, until in 1688 William Rawlinson bought land in Moor Lane for a meeting house, the site of the present St. Botolph's Parish Hall in Priory Street. There the church flourished - early in the 18th century the congregation numbered some 600

The second chapter begins with the purchase for £75 of part of the garden of the Red Lion Inn and the erection thereon of the Round Meeting House. This was timber-built, a strict octagon, and for 100 years the life of the church revolved around it vigorously. It was enlarged during its lifetime and eventually seated over 700. The congregation were not placid; they dissented to the extent that in 1843 nearly 30 members left and formed Headgate Congregational Church.

The period was notable for the ministry of the Revd T.W. Davids who came to Lion Walk at the age of 24 and stayed 33 years. His wife Louisa pioneered Sunday School work in Colchester, to the point where at times 1,000 children attended each Sunday. In 1863 the Round Meeting House was demolished and in its place was erected a Victorian Gothic-style edifice, built of Caen stone at a cost of £6,500. One prominent member left because of the design - a "steeple house" pointing to Rome. In fact large parts of the steeple fell before the end of the century once in a violent storm and once in, of all things, an earthquake.

The church rode these calamities and was led through the first half of the 20th Century by a succession of popular ministers. By 1940 however, the Caen stone had begun to deteriorate. By 1972 - the year in which Lion Walk became part of the newly-created United Reformed Church.

The painful decision to demolish and rebuild had to be made; it was agreed that Lion Walk must remain a town-centre church. Planning permission for development of the site was made conditional upon the tower and steeple remaining. It has been underpinned and renovated so that more than ever before it lifts the eyes and heart skywards.

The church's new position above shops means that most of the £1.5 million cost of the new complex has been borne by the developers, but members and friends of the church have worked and given sacrificially to create a worthy place of worship. The fine Willis organ has been enlarged and re-installed.

In Lion Walk, this Gothic Revival church was designed in a Geometrical Decorated Gothic style and built in 1863 for a Congregational community that had been meeting in Colchester since the 17th century. The 1884 Colchester earthquake damaged its steeple. The church became part of the new United Reformed Church in 1972.

Personal view: This building is opposite the Boots Store and I once attended the funeral in there for my former boss David Foster and after leaving Shrub End, Paul and Vivienne Thompson, who use to live in Walnut Tree Way, became the caretakers there.

St Peter’s, North Hill, Colchester

Also still a church with a surviving bell tower, St Peter's is on North Hill and appears Georgian due to a major remodeling in 1758, but the building retains mediaeval fabric and underwent a further remodeling in 1895–96. The bells are rung every Thursday. The church is usually open through the day and details of its history are available there.

Personal view: This is another church that I have not been in but from memory Pauline Millatt and her late husband Harry did the bell ringing there

St Pauls, St Pauls Road, Colchester

St Paul’s church, formerly a chapel of ease to Lexden, became a parish in its own right in 1879 when it was created from part of the north-east of Lexden parish. The bishop became the patron at the request of J. Papillon, Rector of Lexden. By 1937 there was a vicarage house at Braiswick; the diocese sold it in 1956 to the retiring incumbent and bought a house in North Station Road.

The construction in 1933 of the Colchester bypass south of the church and in 1980 of Westway to the north isolated the church from many of its parishioners. The first stage of the church in Belle Vue Road, consisting of a chancel and nave, was built in 1869 as a result of the arrival of the railway. The building was completed in 1879 by the addition 28

The well-known Dr Turner who established Turner Village had a strong connection with the church. He and many of his family were buried in the churchyard. St Paul’s was united with St James’ in 1995 The church had been damaged in the Colchester earthquake of 1884 and was declared structurally unsafe in 1999. As a result of the church had to be demolished and worship moved to the St Paul’s Centre.

Personal view: A former member of that church, Ken Steward and his daughter Karen, were members of our Parish Players group. The church is now gone but there are still a few gravestones left, behind the new centre where the services are held.

FRIDAY 27th DECEMBER 2013

St Leonard’s, Hythe Hill, Colchester The Medieval door of this old port church still bears the holes made by troops to put muskets through during the English Civil War. Over the nave is an elegant 16th- century hammer beam roof and the north aisle roof is seven older. The 18th- and 19th- century screens and furnishings, the 1901 mural decoration over the chancel arch, and an array of saints in stained glass create a handsome and devotional interior.

Wivenhoe Congregational, High Street, Wivenhoe

Sunday worship is held at 11am, with a communion on the first Sunday each month and there are numerous activities there during the week which include a pre-school group, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Touchstones Dance Club, the Brownies, Rainbows and on the first and third Tuesday each month it is the Sisterhood.

St Mary’s, High Street, Wivenhoe

This is a middle of the road Church of England with a diverse range of services and a great musical tradition and it is located in the old part of Wivenhoe.

St Monica’s, Devere Lane, Wivenhoe

The Catholic parish of Brightlingsea-with-Wivenhoe is a growing community with churches in both towns - St Sabina and St Monica. It also includes the villages of Ainger's Green, Alresford, Elmstead Market, Frating, Gt Bentley and Thorrington.

Wivenhoe Methodist, The Avenue, Wivenhoe

During the early years of the 19th century the followers of John Wesley, known as “Methodists”, split into two rival groups, the established “Wesleyan Methodists” and the breakaway “Primitive Methodists”. Both groups became established in Colchester and competed to extend their influence in the surrounding area. In many places these Methodists had no building of their own but conducted services in private houses, hired rooms, or in the open air. Both groups were active in Wivenhoe in the late 1830’s. But while the Wesleyans soon withdrew, the Primitive Methodists persevered for several decades.

Towards the end of 1870 the Primitives looked set to buy land and build a chapel. But at the last moment the Wesleyans returned to the village and quickly won what can be seen as a race to build. Despite a muddle over the purchase of the land, the whole project was completed in just seven weeks. What emerged was a wooden- boarded building, situated on the bend in Chapel Road, with seating for 162 and opened in February 1871 (see drawing right, by Geoffrey King). The Wesleyans were now safely established in the village after making very little effort during the preceding 30 years. The Primitives, who had done so much groundwork, withdrew defeated.

Within 10 years there were complaints of overcrowding and discomfort and agitation to build a bigger chapel. Two adjacent plots of land at the junction of Chapel Road and Clifton Terrace were purchased and plans prepared, but no further action taken for over 15 years. Meanwhile the original building survived the 1884 earthquake unscathed.

The project was revived in 1897. Several alternative sites were now considered and rejected. New plans were drawn up for the land in Chapel Road, before the present site in The Avenue became available. Again plans were prepared but builders’ tenders were 40-60% above the architect’s estimate. Further delay ensued while one of the Trustees prepared a simpler specification and undertook to build at a cheaper price. There was also a ceremonial stone-laying on Whit Monday 1901 at which contemporary documents and newspapers were buried in the foundations. The new chapel was finally opened in October 1901. Despite initial optimism, it took 25 years to pay off the debt on this new building.

The Chapel Road land and building were eventually sold, the old chapel becoming first the Parish Hall and later the St. John Ambulance Hall, its external appearance much changed in recent times. At the national level, the rival Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist factions finally re-united in 1932.

Electric lighting was installed in The Avenue chapel in 1928 to replace the gas, while 1938 brought electric heating instead of the stove. Otherwise the building changed little in 60 years. After a period of relative prosperity the membership dwindled until in 1959 a proposal to close was narrowly defeated.

Then in the early 1960’s the life of the church was revived by the arrival of a number of new young families. Soon there was interest in renovating the premises. A modest scheme proposed in 1966 was overtaken by the receipt of a bequest which facilitated a more ambitious project completed in 1971. New rooms were built at the rear and the interior of the church was turned round so that the congregation faced west instead of east. New chairs replaced the pews and the exterior red brickwork was rendered over and painted. Two years later a small pipe organ was installed. Recent modifications have improved facilities for the disabled. In 2001 the church celebrated the centenary of the present building in The Avenue and continues to serve the local community.

Artillery Street Evangelical, Artillery Street, Colchester

Artillery Street Evangelical Church has been in Colchester a very long time – over 170 years. Back in 1839 a small group of Christians (calling themselves Primitive Methodists) decided to buy some and build a church. The land they bought had some barracks built on it which were at that time being demolished. There were few, if any, houses in the area and the track to “Barrack Ground Chapel” became known as Chapel Lane. In later years as the area developed and the streets took on names with historical connections, Chapel Lane became Artillery Street.

However from an historical viewpoint, this church is most famous for being the place where Charles Haddon Spurgeon – a very famous Victorian preacher – was converted in January 1850. As a lad of 15, he was struggling up Hythe Hill in a snow blizzard one Sunday, trying to get to another church in Colchester. He realised that he was not going to make it and turned into this chapel in Artillery Street. Here he heard the Gospel message from Isiah 45:22 “Look to me and be saved”.

His life was changed that day forever; he gave his and life to the Lord and trusted him for forgiveness of his sins. Like many today who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Spurgeon found peace with God and experienced a personal and meaningful relationship with him. Right up to the 1900’s Colchester grew around the chapel. Paxman Engineering relocated to a 13 acre farm known as “Stonehouse Farm” on Hythe Hill. Many Paxman engineering employees lived in house near the works. This tightly packed terraced housing still surrounds the church today. But by the 1930’s, there was sadly little doctrinal difference between Primitive Methodists and General Methodists and in 1934 the two denominations combined.

The chapel in Artillery Street had now lost its strategic importance as the main Primative Methodist chapel in this part of East Anglia, and attendance declined. From the second World War until the present day, the church has had a chequered history. On 30th November 1956 the trustees agreed that the chapel would close after the evening service of 24th February 1957. The building was sold to a business man. However he never really used it and in August 1959 a music group called the Gospel Aires started leading it as a place to practice. Some local people decided to join the group for a Sunday evening service and later a morning service and Sunday School was added. A trust called Datchett Evangelical Fellowship became interested and received money to buy the building in 1965. Three later a pastor was called who served the church for thirteen years.

By July 1989 however the church gone down to three faithful members and again there was pressure to close the church. The church called another Pastor (Derek Hales) in 1991, and the work was strengthened and established once again. In 1999 Derek contracted cancer and passed into glory later that year. The church struggled in until Jeff Avery became Pastor in 2007, but his ministry ended in 2009. The present Pastor, Peter Millist, commenced in January 2010.

Wimpole Road Methodist, Wimpole Road, Colchester

Wimpole Road is a substantial Gothic style Methodist Church erected in 1904. The New Town area of Colchester was developed from 1878 and within four years the Colchester Wesleyans had started the search for a suitable site. By the turn of the century the first Trustees had acquired a prominent corner site immediately next to the former Military Parade Ground and then (and still) a Recreation Ground. Total costs including the land were about £4,500.

The Church when opened contrasted with the small plain country Chapels in the surrounding villages. It had a tower and a spire, although these were of no practical use. It was clearly a Church and not a Chapel. It did not however follow that because the Church and its premises were large that the congregation were affluent. Early records show that although the congregations were good, the people “mostly if not altogether of the Artisan class” were of limited means and “were unable to grapple” with a great and long lasting debt. Three years after opening the debt was well over £3,000 and the balance at the bank was £33.00. The work however was “a decided success”.

The Church flourished between the two World Wars. As was the fashion, pews were placed in every part but, it is said, the Church was full for both morning and evening services. The Sunday School was very strong numbering several hundred children. After the second World War other Methodist Churches in the district closed with members transferring to Wimpole Road. Membership peaked in the 1960s. Substantial renovations took place in 1979 and the premises have now been subsequently updated.

Today they have an attractive Church with modern facilities and with an active caring family membership. They have served the New Town area of Colchester for over a hundred years and have every intention of doing so in the years to come.

St Stephens, Canterbury Road, Colchester

St Stephen’s was originally founded as a daughter church of St Botolph’s towards the end of the 19th Century. At this time, the area known as New Town was being developed and the parish of St Botolph’s foresaw the need to provide for the spiritual requirements of their growing population. A ‘temporary’ building was thus erected in 1894, subsequently going on to serve as the parish hall for over a century. A more substantial brick building (the former church) was opened in 1905. It was not until 1953 that St Stephen’s became a parish in it’s own right. Then, in the mid 1970′s St Stephen’s, together with the neighbouring parishes of St Leonard and St Mary Magdalen became part of a Team Ministry. This was later reconstituted to create the United Benefice of New Town and the Hythe.

The present Church Centre opened in 2001, is designed to build on the hopes and aspirations of the past and in providing greatly improved facilities for the whole community, is consequently well-placed to meet the challenges of the future. Their aim at St Stephen’s is thus to serve and respond to the needs of this continually evolving and growing part of Colchester.

St John’s Russian Orthodox Church, formerly Garrison Church, Military Road, Colchester

Built in Military Road in 1855 to hold services for soldiers going to the Crimean War, this large Grade II* listed timber church has space for a congregation of 500. It is now St John's Russian Orthodox Church. St John's Orthodox Church certainly has the 'wow factor' according to its many visitors. Situated 15-20 minutes' walk from the town centre on an acre of land at the highest point in Colchester proper, this white, wooden, colonial-style church is unique in this country.

Over 150 years old and formerly Colchester Garrison Church, in 2008 it was bought by the 164 million-strong Russian Orthodox Church. Since then it has become the natural centre for the whole Orthodox Christian community in Essex and Suffolk, gathering over 500 people of more than twenty different nationalities.

Inside may be seen the widest icon-screen (20 metres/70 feet) in this country, huge, colourful frescoes of Orthodox Christian feasts and saints and some 500 icons.

Apart from the main church, there is also a chapel dedicated to all the Saints of the British Isles and Ireland, a hall, side rooms, toilets and baby-changing facilities. Outside in the gardens the community has erected an Orthodox memorial cross in memory of the 469 soldiers from the Napoleonic Wars who are buried there.

DNA Network, Whitewell Road, Colchester

DNA Networks is a church planting initiative, which began in 2001. From an Alpha course with students at Colchester Sixth Form College and ministry with international students at Essex University, DNA has developed into a vibrant community of faith.

Beginning in Colchester, DNA Networks emerged when Janie and David Beales returned from Australia to live in England. Having been granted a Licence by the Bishop of Chelmsford, they prayer-walked the walls of Colchester virtually every weekday in the year 2000.

Colchester Vineyard, meet at the Playhouse, St John’s Street, Colchester

Colchester Vineyard is a church plant from Southend and Rayleigh Vineyards. We’re building a community of faith that, by the way it lives and works, reaches out to people in Colchester for whom church and religion seem irrelevant, or even malign.

Their main purpose is to invite people to become followers of Jesus, and for us to learn how to follow him together.

They believe Jesus lived, died and then rose again to make it possible for everyone to receive new life, and for God’s way of doing things – and his blessing – to be rolled out across the world.

This is an adventure all people are called to join, as people shaped their lives around Jesus and his message they find empowerment through his Spirit, true meaning and purpose in life, and a desire to serve people around them.

They are enthusiastic about and value informality, authenticity, relevance, friendship, justice and compassion. They read the bible, the expect God to equip all his people (“Everyone gets to play”), they must trust that he heals and restores.

They like real meetings with God – in prayer, worship, with people and serving people – without being religious. They like parties, too and are part of the bigger picture in Colchester.

They believe Vineyard has a particular calling, a way of doing church that is relevant to ordinary people today. They are no better than any other church, but they do have a particular job to do. They work alongside other churches, and pray blessing and success for all the churches in Colchester, together they serve God and are vital for the Community.

They are led by Keith and Michelle Milliken and John and Sue Kevan are co- ordinating things on behalf of Rayleigh Vineyard. If you would like to know more, they would like to hear from you.